


Faith, Trust, and Angel Dust

by sunshineglow118



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Baby Winchesters (Supernatural), M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Contain Spoilers, Young Sam Winchester
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-03-09 06:14:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13475406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineglow118/pseuds/sunshineglow118
Summary: Sam, left with Pastor Jim, stumbles upon a word he's never encountered before: Lucifer. When he asked, he was told that Lucifer was alone in Hell. Sam, angry even for his young age, doesn't like being alone- so he prays to the Fallen Angel.This is the story of how a young Sam Winchester manages to save the world starting at the young age of four by giving the Devil hope and praying about the brighter sides of humanity.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Should I be working on my other fic? Yes. Should I be sleeping? Probably. I had a point.   
> ...Ah yes.   
> I am working around plots and within them. This is my world and I hope that you enjoy this story. I came up with it at a random hour in the morning so I wanted to share it with you.   
> Additionally, I am not a parent and have no experience with children so just suspend disbelief of Sam's reading abilities or chalk it up to being a Vessel- whichever floats your boat.   
> hope you enjoy.

Sam, who was frustrated at being left alone with Pastor Jim, had many questions. He knew he couldn’t ask what his dad was doing, or why Dean knew and he could not.

He learned that if he asked those questions, he would be yelled at.

He still asked them.

Dad was out again and Dean probably wandered off, enjoying the time that was not spent babysitting his ‘baby’ brother.

Pastor Jim, a kind man who devoted his life to God, walked over to him in the pew. Sam had one of the hymn books in his hand, trying to pick out the words he knew and read along.

“Hello,” Sam said, looking up at the man as he sat down, but going back to the book, confused as to why the song didn’t make sense.

“Some light reading?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Sam said, fingers trailing over the words.

“That’s because you are reading it wrong,” Pastor Jim said to the boy. “You have to follow the words with the music notes.” He read the first line, then dropped down to the next set of notes to read the hymn out loud.

“That makes no sense,” Sam protested when he tried to read it again.

“It does when you are singing it,” He said kindly. “When it is played the music and the words mix to get the hymn.”

Sam nodded his head slowly. Jim watched as Sam read over the words again, trailing his dirty fingers over the thin paper only to hesitate at the end. Sam hesitated for a moment, then dropped his hand down to the new set of notes and words.

“Oh,” he said, smiling brightly, “I get it!” Pastor Jim ruffled his hair fondly and waited for Sam’s next question. Sam’s progress was slow for an adult, but faster than a four-year-old. When John dropped the boys off for a longer hunt with money that wouldn’t last half the time he would be gone, he also dropped off a bag with a couple children’s reading books that Sam and Dean were no doubt sharing.

Pastor Jim was surprised when Sam could read better than his older brother could despite the age gap.  

“Who’s this?” Sam asked, pausing over an unfamiliar word to him and looking up at the man.

“Ah,” he said. “That is Lucifer.”

“Lucifer?” Sam repeated.

“Yes,” he spoke, looking up at one of the stained glass windows with angels colored in the fractured glass. “He was an archangel, one of the most powerful and the supposed favorite of God Himself.”

“Wow,” Sam said with wonder, eyes bright as he looked up at the glass.

“Yes, but Lucifer disobeyed God and was cast into Hell.”

“Why did he do that?” Sam asked. Jim sighed deeply and looked back at the boy.

“Lucifer did not like the first humans that God created. God asked all of the angels to love humans more than they loved Him. Lucifer couldn’t do that, his pride wouldn’t allow him, so he corrupted the humans and was cast into hell until the Apocalypse comes.” Pastor Jim did not want to lie to Sam, he would have found out regardless like the curious child he was.

Sam was quiet for several minutes, contemplating what the Pastor had just told him.

“Is Lucifer alone in Hell?”

Pastor Jim was struck by the question Sam asked. He shook his head subtly so the child wouldn’t see, chalking the question to childhood curiosity.

“I would hope so,” Jim said. Sam looked down quickly, his shaggy hair covering his expression. He patted the boy on the back and stood. “Enough of that talk,” he said, “let’s find your brother and get some dinner.”

Pastor Jim turned away from Sam, not seeing the boy gripping the paper tight in his tiny fists and slamming the book closed as he left it on the pew, angry at what the Pastor had said to him.

*

Later that night, with Dean in his own room, Sam was looking at the ceiling. He sighed for what felt like the millionth time since he finished brushing his teeth. The words that Pastor Jim told him ran themselves over and over in his tiny brain.

Sam didn’t like it when he was alone. Since Dean was often with him, he didn’t feel alone all that much but there was just a feeling he couldn’t shake sometimes.

Sam huffed and kicked the covers off the bed, quietly sneaking over to the window and sitting to look out at the half moon as it glistened over the grass and gravestones.

Pastor Jim had told him about the power of prayer but it still confused him. He said it was like writing a letter but you wouldn’t get a reply and you had to have faith that God got it. He said that the letter could be spoken out loud or a thought- that somehow, God would hear it. It was very confusing to Sam but he wanted to try it.

“Lucifer?” he said quietly. He looked behind him, blushing and shrinking into his night clothes as if something were to pop out behind him. “I’m Sam,” he whispered, rubbing his hands nervously in his hands. “I don’t know if you can hear me or if this works but,” Sam wasn’t sure what he wanted to say to Lucifer. He yawned as he looked up at the moon and made his way back to the bed.

Once he tossed the covers over his body, he smiled and knew what he was going to say to the angel.

“I just wanted to say sweet dreams, because everyone deserves that,” he yawned halfway through his whispered prayer, eyes drooping. Snuggling deeper into the blankets as sleep began to overtake him, he smiled and said, “goodnight, Lucifer,” before falling asleep.

-

Lucifer, who’s wings were tucked as closely as they could to his body and away from the Cage bars winced as another feather was cut into by a barb. He was far from comfortable in his true form, stuck in a box with his wrath and nothing but demons, wicked souls, and hellfire around him.

Rest for him was a necessity out of boredom and in order to keep his sanity. Lucifer would rest for long periods of time so that Hell would become bearable rather than the torture that it was- that it had been before he managed to close himself off to the world around him.

In truth, Lucifer was tired. Beyond that, he was falling at the seams. The only thing that kept him from apologizing to his Father was the fact that he was right. And that his Father would not hear him. He didn’t know which was worse: that his Father had left after casting him into Hell or that if he apologized, he would remain in Hell until the End of Days.

It was the ultimate joke and humiliation.

After being stuck for so long in a barbed box with nothing but his thoughts, the screams of the damned, and the broken whispers of demons, he was even wondering if it was worth it.

What he wanted most in the world at the moment was to be free of his Cage. And once he was free the first thing he would do would be to stretch his wings as far as they would allow. To shake out his feathers that were scabbed over, decaying and dying as he could not groom them in the Cage.

It would feel blissful. He imagined it often.

The other thing he imagined was the soul that was made for him and him alone. A perfect soul that would complement his bright Grace to finally become one and never have to suffer the loneliness again.

What a beautiful day that would be.

In his weakest of moments, those moments when he cried and screamed his Voice hoarse, he would think about the soul that was his.

He would never allow for harm to come to it; Lucifer would sooner kill himself then harm the perfect being- something he imagined was more perfect than God.

In his private moments, he thought that is what God wanted all along, to love a soul (a human) more than his Father, but he quickly shoved those thoughts aside. The soul was _his._ Made for him- for each other.

Lucifer growled and suppressed the urge to attack the bars of the cage.

 _Lucifer?_ A small and quiet voice drifted through his thoughts and grace.

Eons ago, Lucifer cut off all ties to the part of his grace that would hear prayers. He tired of hearing humans that cursed or begged for him. Getting that part of him to quiet was damn near impossible for the first several centuries, but eventually he got it.

That’s why when Lucifer heard the small whisper float across his grace like a falling leaf, he almost thought he was hallucinating. He waited on baited breath to see if the voice would say something more or if it was a figment of his imagination and desperation.

_I’m Sam._

“Sam,” he whispered reverently. This was the fractured name of the Vessel he had been told about from his demons. He felt the moment that Sam took his first breath, but it was cut off so quickly that he thought his grace had finally turned on him. Whispers were passed through the bars, but they were garbled and muffled by the screams so he rarely understood anything.

Another joke and humiliation on his Father’s part.

But this prayer was _true._ It was real. Lucifer could feel his wings vibrating with joy even thought they were being cut into against the cage. His soul was praying to him. His soul was truly alive.

 _I don’t know if you can hear me or if this works but,_ the prayer tapered off, making Lucifer push his grace out to the bonds of the Cage, ignoring the pain and hellfire that seeped into his pure being like a venom.

“I can hear you Sam,” Lucifer wept, pushing himself against the Cage. “I can hear you,” he assured, knowing that he could not be heard but needed to say it anyway.

He hoped against all hope and logic that Sam would continue to talk. To talk to him until they could share a conversation together, as equals within the same body- intimacy beyond any comprehension.

 _I just wanted to say sweet dreams, because everyone deserves that,_ Sam prayed to him. Lucifer pulled his grace back within the Cage, burned badly by the seals that kept him contained in this wrenched prison.

“Beautiful Sam,” he whispered, curling his injured grace as far away from the bars as he could to nurse his wounds. “Thank you, sweet child,” he said, looking beyond the bars and into the hellfire where, somewhere, the soul, his Sam, was clearly getting ready for sleep. Sam wished away Lucifer’s nightmares that were not noticed on the dreamscape.

Sam’s compassion light a fire in Lucifer. It was something that burned bright, brighter than himself as it scorched the bars of the Cage, the seals straining to keep him contained.

Sam had given Lucifer hope.

 _Goodnight, Lucifer,_ Sam said, his voice thick with sleep.

“May the peaceful dreams find you, Sam,” Lucifer said, brimming with happiness. “May they find you until the Morning Star rises, my soul.”

*

Sam prayed when something happened to him that he thought Lucifer would like to hear about. When he was younger, he prayed about _everything:_ if he learned a new word, if Dean showed him something cool, if he met a new person, of his first day of school, if he got a book, if he pet a dog, the list was endless to his young mind.

Lucifer soaked up every word Sam said. It was his way into the world that he hadn’t had since he was free from his prison.

Oh, but how it was a new form of torture.

He was so close to Sam. He could feel his enthusiasm and joy yet was not able to experience it for himself.

Lucifer also knew that Sam did not pray to him every night, but in the Cage, time moved differently so it always made Lucifer happy to hear from his Vessel.

But, as Sam grew his innocence diminished bit by bit.

Sam started praying for his dad to come home from wherever he was. He prayed to know what Dean and his Dad were keeping from him. He begged to have a normal life that didn’t depend on life on the road. He prayed that Dean would eat food when the money had run out. He prayed that his dad would leave more money so that Dean wouldn’t come home at random hours with a wad of cash, come food and told not to ask questions.

The Archangel also shared Sam’s sorrows. He told Sam that he would never have to go hungry when he got out of the Cage. When Sam one day was crying through his prayers about Dean coming home with a black eye, but food, Lucifer promised that Dean would be as safe as he could possibly make it when he was freed.

Lucifer knew all about Dean- the Michael Sword. At first, he resented the older Winchester, but Sam’s love for his brother allowed for Lucifer to tolerate the elder at first. But so many of Sam’s prayers were about how Dean was a good big brother: how he would make sure Sam had medicine, that he was safe, that he was fed and clothed rather than himself. It was impossible for Lucifer to hate Dean Winchester when Sam loved him so much.

He also felt a bit indebted to the older brother of his Vessel as he sacrificed his own health so that his brother would benefit.

And Lucifer rewarded those that were loyal to him.

Yes, he knew that Dean Winchester, the Righteous Man, would descend into Hell and be forced to stay until he broke the first seal. And although he knew that it would pain Sam when Lucifer confessed that he could have protected the elder in some fashion, he was a selfish being.

And so Lucifer planned. A hellhound pup, a runt who wandered too close to the Cage, was caught by Lucifer. Rather than killing it as he would have with any other hellhound, he whispered to the creature the name of Dean Winchester. This would be the hellhound that would be sent to collect Sam’s brother’s soul one day.

But the hound would do it twice rather than once and never a soul other than Dean’s.

The hound grew quickly and when Lucifer sent it off to Dean with the order to not kill the child but gather something with his scent, the hellhound delivered quickly and without an ounce of blood as a pen hung from the teeth of the hound.

“Good girl,” Lucifer said, stroking the dogs fur.

*

“Lucifer?” Sam prayed, his heart aching in his chest as he stood in the cold, too close to Dean for the moment. His body shook in the cold air as he prayed. Sam was older now, and felt silly for praying to the Devil, but every time he thought about stopping, his thoughts were on the Fallen Angel. So, he prayed.

“I don’t know if you can hear me,” he said weakly, tears falling from his eyes. Sam sobbed, his knees buckling under the weight no child had the right to bear.

“I feel so alone,” he whispered, his voice held a tone of hopelessness to it as he cried. “I know what dad does, and he trains Dean and I, but I can’t-“ he broke off with another sob. “I just want to be normal,” he cried. “I hate moving around all the time. I can’t concentrate and it’s not worth making friends when I know I’ll lose them soon anyway.”

Sam cried silently for a few more minutes.  When he looked up, he noticed that it wasn’t night, but the moment right before the dawn reaches over the horizon. Sam’s watch had broken when he was being trained by his dad so he had no concept of time since the clock in the hotel didn’t work.

“The worst part is,” Sam said, feeling like he was confessing one of his darkest secrets and exposing his soul, “-is that I don’t even know if you can hear me. Or if you are just me trying to fill the loneliness.”

-

Lucifer attacked the Cage again, his grace exhausted from Sam’s despair and doubt. His soul was crying out for help, to be comforted in a way that Lucifer could not provide no matter how great his power was. Lucifer, tired and shaking on the Cage floor, growled and pushed against the barbs one more time, stretching his grace out for Sam as he prayed about whatever his ‘worst part’ was.

The seals, brightened and snapped against his grace, forcing him to pull himself away from the Cage no matter the pain Sam was going through.

“I’m sorry, Sam,” Lucifer wept as he panted. Lucifer hung his head in shame at not being able to protect his soul from the agony of living his type of life. Oh, how Lucifer wanted to destroy every monster that plagued the earth. His rage at humanity contorted slightly and was now focused at the monsters that caused Sam to lose the right to a happy, carefree life.  

And then the rest of Sam’s prayer came through.

_-is that I don’t even know if you can hear me. Or if you are just me trying to fill the loneliness._

“I’m here, Sam,” Lucifer said weakly. “I’ve always been here, listening, Sam, always.”

Lucifer could feel Sam’s hope slipping. He panicked. If Sam lost hope in him, Lucifer might lose hope in himself. Franticly, he thought about any other way he could contact Sam. He had thought about getting demons to talk for him, but the demons might do something horrible to his Vessel. He couldn’t send the hellhound and he couldn’t ask for a demon to kill a human so that he may speak to him, even if it was for a short time.

Lucifer gripped what could be considered his head in frustration and that is when he found his solution.

His broken halo.

Oh, it would be excruciatingly painful to rip pieces of it off the crown of his head.

But losing Sam was infinitely more so.

Summoning his angel blade, Lucifer steeled himself for the pain and brought it to the edge of his halo where one of the larger cracks was. He readied himself and sliced.

It was rare that one scream could echo through every layer of hell, but his certainly did.

Lucifer gripped the chunk of his halo that he removed and concentrated through the pain. He found when Sam first prayed to him, it filled the hole that was where his beautiful soul would fit within himself. Hoping, damn near praying, Lucifer thought of Sam’s need and wavering faith, and sent it to the hole in his grace.

-

Sam watched the sun rise, the tears drying on his face as he felt truly alone. Sighing, Sam stood up as the light of the sunrise hit his face. He huffed a laugh as it was one of the most beautiful sunrises he had ever seen but felt no real joy out of seeing it.

“Please,” he begged one last time before giving up.

Sam gasped when a light seemed to come crashing straight for him. Reacting instinctually, he threw his hands up to shield his face, but the light pooled right at his hand.

It was the brightest thing he had ever seen, even more so than the sun. He squinted at the light as it weaved around his hand before settling and flashing brightly once more. It was intense, and Sam had to close his eyes.

When he opened them, a small silver chain was wrapped around his hand. Heart pounding in his chest, he lifted it closer to his eyes, goosebumps rising on his flesh as he touched the cool silver. The sun’s rays reflected off the metal and cast a light reflection that refracted right onto the center of his chest.

Sam gasped again and looked towards the horizon.

“Lucifer,” he whispered in awe. It was crazy, but Sam knew. “Thank you.” Sam untangled the chain from his hand and fiddled with the clasp. Reaching behind his neck, he felt the chain attach itself behind his neck. It was cool against his skin and seemed to prickle with life. He kept his fingers on it as he looked over to where the sun was beginning to rise.

“I’ll never take it off,” he promised.

Sam wanted to stay outside and watch the sun rise, but he knew that if Dean woke and Sam was not there, he would lose all rights to privacy. So, he walked back to the motel room they shared and took a shower.

When Dean questioned him on where he got the ‘chain,’ Sam looked at him and simply told him the Devil gave it to him. Dean rolled his eyes at his younger brother but did it with a smile and never asked him again where he found it.

Later when Sam prayed to Lucifer and told him how he managed to handle his overprotective brother, Lucifer laughed and knew that slicing off a piece of his halo was well worth the pain he was enduring.

“Soon,” he said, beyond tired, “soon, Sam.”

When Sam bid Lucifer goodnight and to have sweet dreams, Lucifer accepted for the first time ever and did indeed have sweet dreams of being topside on earth, wings stretched out and Sam’s soul within his grace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has read, commented and kudosed!!!

Lucifer knew that Sam was aging-being a Vessel would not stop him from that.

Sam prayed less as he grew, but Lucifer did not fault the young hunter for that. Lucifer knew that those around him-mainly his father- had told Sam stories about demons and therefore the Devil. The Winchester Brother’s still did not know of their fate, but they were slowly being groomed into the Vessels that God wanted them to be.

This angered Lucifer. He burned with the knowledge that Azazel had tainted Sam’s blood when he was a mere babe in a crib, only to murder his mother before his young eyes with hellfire. When Sam would pray to Lucifer, asking why his mother had to die and why his father dragged them from state to state, school to school, hunting for _one_ demon, Lucifer had no answers.

The Fallen had never told the demons to go and make ‘children.’ The demons had their own free will. Azazel was a pedophile who got off on feeding children blood.

Unfortunately, Lucifer knew that he needed Azazel so that the dominos would begin to fall into place. If Lucifer could kill him and still have his Apocalypse, and his freedom, he would.

But Lucifer had to wait.

*

Something was wrong with Sam.

It felt like his grace was trapped in a bog. His grace felt sickly and weak, as if he had walked through mud for hours at hip level while suffering from dehydration.

“Sam,” Lucifer groaned, laying on the floor of his Cage. “Sam, talk to me.”

-

Dean was pacing around Sam’s bed.

His brother was hot to the touch. He didn’t have a thermometer to take his temperature but his brother was burning up. Whenever he tried to remove the blankets from Sam, he would moan and drag them back up his coltish form, curl into a ball and shiver.

Dean had called their father three times and got the voicemail each time. He had bathed Sam in ice twice- trying to get his fever to drop with no luck. Any time he tried getting Sam to eat, his brother would vomit the food up ten minutes later.

“Sam,” Dean whined, feeling helpless and not knowing what to do. Dean ran his hands through his hair for what felt like the millionth time as he weighed his options.

If Sam stayed in the motel, his fever might pass. Dean knew that this was unlikely as his brother could hardly keep any medicine or liquids down.

“Dean?” Sam muttered, lifting his head. Dean rushed to his side, dabbing the now hot towel on his forehead. His brother had lost all the color in his face, his eyes were fluttering as he rocked his head around the room.

“I’m here, Sammy,” Dean whispered, trying to keep his voice from shaking.

Dean knew that if he took his brother to the hospital they could run the risk of being separated. Foster Care was not kind to kids like them. No family would want Dean for his troubled behaviors and no family would take Sam who could not be parted from his brother.

“Hurts,” Sam said, eyes trained onto his brother for a moment then flickering back into his eyelids.

“Tell me what hurts, Sammy,” Dean pleaded. Sam’s body was shaking again, his stomach heaving. Dean quickly turned his brother so that he could heave into the trashcan. Little fluid left his mouth, the smell was of bile and quickly filled the room. When his stomach stopped heaving, Dean put the bucket down and rolled him over to see that Sam was crying.

“Help,” Sam whispered, his one hand moving to clutch at the silver necklace he never took off. His eyes fluttered into the back of his head once more and he passed out, his grip slack in Dean’s hand.

“Please,” Dean pleaded. “anything. Help my brother.”

Dean knew that his next move would be taking his brother to the hospital.

Saving Sam’s life, only for them to experience it together in a Foster Care alive was better than Dean being without his brother.

-

Lucifer summoned his blade without hesitation as he heard the collective prayer of his Vessel and his older brother. He could feel Sam’s weak grasp on his halo as whatever sickness dug deeper into Sam’s body.

Mentally readying himself for the pain, Lucifer slid the blade above the crown of his head and sliced through another crack. This piece of his halo was much larger than what he gave Sam in the beginning. Lucifer cradled the portion of is grace, a fourth of his halo as the pain subsided enough for him to concentrate on moving it out of the Cage and to his ailing human.

Lucifer shuddered as his Grace meshed with the emptiness, only to leave him completely and escape the Cage like a comet racing towards the earth.

His grace throbbed in pain, wings shaking with exertion as he waited for Sam to get the fraction of his halo. Lucifer only had to wait a few minutes for his halo to get to Sam; when the larger fraction of his grace connected to the piece he first sent, the throbbing of his wound subsided, and Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief.

Now, he had to hope that sending his grace would heal the younger Winchester.

-

Dean was getting ready to drag Sam to the emergency room when the mysterious light crashed through the glass window and engulfed Sam’s neck. His brother arched off the bed, back bowed as the light circled around the chain. Dean squinted his eyes at the light, not knowing what to do as Sam slowly relaxed.

As his younger brother relaxed, back lowering back to the bed and his eyes falling shut, Dean saw that his necklace seemed to have a faint glow to it. Walking to his brother carefully, Dean tried to remove his brother’s hand from it, only to have his brother moan in pain.

Releasing his arm, the older brother noticed that Sam’s breathing had evened out and some of his color seemed to return to his face. Carefully, Dean reached out and touched the necklace, quickly pulling his hand away with a hiss as it was like touching ice. His fingers were blue where he touched the glowing metal.

Part of him wanted to risk ripping it off Sam’s neck. It was an object that he didn’t know about. It could be from a witch or a demon.

But it also seemed to be helping Sam.

Dean reached his hand forward and touched his brother’s forehead, sighing in relief when it wasn’t burning like a furnace in the dead of winter.

It was then that Dean decided that he didn’t need to know what the chain around his brother’s neck was- it wasn’t hurting Sammy, it was healing him- and that was good enough for Dean to not bring up the subject.

To his brother or his father.

*

Time was strange in Hell. Sam’s prayers were the only thing that was clear to him. Lucifer, who still had the majority of his halo intact, knew that his time in the Cage was coming to an end.

The last time that Lucifer came close to giving over another portion of his halo to Sam had been when John Winchester had told him never to return. It seemed the head of the Winchester family was disappointed in their younger son- that he did not want to hunt and desired a normal life.

Lucifer had his blade ready to slice through another section of his halo, but refrained.

The mystery illness that Sam had when he was younger had healed due to Lucifer’s grace. He wasn’t sure that it would heal Sam when he did it, simply relying on instinct and desperation, but it worked.

Lucifer was well aware that his halo would not save Sam from death, but it could save him if he was sick or horribly injured. So Lucifer bared Sam’s pain and prayers, torn between guilt and grief as he refrained from removing another piece of himself for Sam’s happiness.

The other thing that Lucifer realized was that ripping off chunks of his halo was not easy. Lucifer could not cut off a sliver of his golden circlet- it needed to be a significant sacrifice for his blade to tear through.

Which meant that Lucifer, by his extensive thinking and calculations, only could give Sam two, maybe three, more parts of his halo before it was lost to him forever.

It was like cutting off fingers. Lucifer was sure that if Sam had given his halo back to him, the grace would not heal properly or act as it should have. But it was a necessary sacrifice to keep Sam alive and happy.

Lucifer also knew of the debt he owed Dean Winchester. The Michael Sword had given up so many things for his younger brother. While, from what Lucifer could gather from Sam’s prayers, Dean did not snap back at John when Sam was told to leave, Dean did not hold Sam back from his wishes of becoming a normal person.

The Fallen angel knew that Sam’s life as a regular human was limited, but he hoped that Sam enjoyed it while it lasted.

*

Sam’s emotional pain was immense. Lucifer could almost feel the heat of the flames engulf him as Sam was pulled from the burning building by his brother. Sam’s soul cried out for Jess, a human that he loved and wanted to share his life with.

But now she burned as history repeated itself.

Had Lucifer not known of Sam until he was sprung free of his prison, he would have been elated that the apocalypse was now beginning to move. But Lucifer cried with Sam. Sam had prayed to him about Jess and how he wished he would not mess anything up. He told Lucifer about how Sam planned to marry her- to try and live a normal life with the woman.

Lucifer cried that something Sam loved that much was ripped away from him all due to a demon and his Father playing with puppets.

Lucifer summoned his blade again and didn’t think about the pain as he sliced another quarter off. As he pushed the grace through his body and too Sam, emotional and physical pain ripping through the bond they shared, he laughed at the thought that Sam know had more than half of his halo wrapped around his neck.

-

Dean remembered the day that the light came and wrapped its way around Sam. It broke the window like a bullet and struck at Sam at a damn near violent speed.

This time, the light, whatever it was, almost carefully wove its way around Sam’s neck. Dean watched as it pulsed brightly, like a small heartbeat as it wrapped its way around Sam. The light settled around the necklace Sam never removed and settled with a faint glow.

Sam was on his knees on the ground, safe from the flames. Dean, who was standing guard, knelt next to his brother and lifted him up.

“Come on, Sammy,” Dean said. “Let’s kill that son of a bitch.”

Sam still had his one hand clutched to the necklace and like the last time, Dean didn’t ask questions.

If the light wanted to kill him, kill either of them, it had years to do it- he didn’t see why he should worry about it now.

*

Anger, wrath, and rage were not unfamiliar to Lucifer. The demons were aware that they could very well be extinguished if they said the wrong thing or managed to catch the Devil at the wrong time.

The hellhound that sat outside Lucifer’s Cage often ate the demons that came too close or pissed of his master.

However, all of the rage that Lucifer showed when he was pushed into the Cage, when he tried to escape numerous times only to fail, or when the demons thought they were doing his work, paled in comparison to what he was currently feeling.

Sam had been killed.

Lucifer attacked the Cage like a possessed man.

He was well aware of the fact that Sam’s death meant the beginning of his escape. But he had formed a bond with Sam that had been forged for years. For him to feel the bright soul be pulled from his body was enough for him to forget logic and attack.

Luckily, time moved quickly in Hell and Sam was breathing just as Lucifer was beginning to get creative with his attacks against the barbed prison.

His hellhound panted as he smelled the contract and soul scent to Dean Winchester.

It wouldn’t be long now.

“I’m sorry, Sammy,” Lucifer said as he nursed his wounds. “It’ll be alright,” he promised. “Soon.”

*

Lucifer had numerous mixed feelings about sending his hellhound out to get Dean, but he knew it needed to happen. He grabbed the hellhound by the scruff and pulled it close to the bars.

“Quickly and cleanly,” he ordered before letting the hound off.

He only had to wait a few earth hours until Sam’s cries echoed through his grace. Lucifer clutched at the hole in his grace and hushed it like he once did to Sam when he woke from his nightmares.

“I know, Sam,” Lucifer said. “and I am so sorry.”

Lucifer welcomed the pain as he cut another quarter of his halo off and sent it to Sam. It was well deserved, and he certainly earned it.

There was only a sliver of his halo left. It was so small, he almost didn’t feel it anymore. He knew what he would do with the last sliver. He would eventually give Sam hope when he would be at his darkest- just like his Vessel did for him.

-

The hound that came after Dean did not bait either hunter as Dean’s deal came to a close. It did not tear Dean to shreds as they thought it would. Instead, when the hound got past the salt line and knocked open the door, it ripped the demon apart viciously, only to drag it away before coming back.

Sam was holding Dean’s cooling corpse when the light fluttered over to Sam.

“Why?” Sam asked, tears falling freely onto his brother’s face. The hound had pounced on Dean and snapped his neck with his jaws then ran off. Other than the pool of blood circled around them both, with his eyes closed, Dean looked rather peaceful. “Why, Lucifer?”

The light hovered over Dean’s corpse, flashing brightly only to dim and slowly creep up Sam’s arm like it was sorry.

“I should be hunting you down,” Sam growled to the light as it slowly climbed his shoulder and slowly moved its way to his neck to join the chain he had since he was four.

When the light joined the rest of it, whatever it was the fallen angel kept sending him, it did not fill him with joy or energy as the others had. It just helped him not feel as lonely.

“Will it be okay?” Sam asked, his eyes closed, one hand holding tight to the necklace while the other held onto his brother’s. The necklace gave one last flash before the glow faded.

And for some reason, Sam got the feeling that it would be.

*

For the first time since Sam prayed to him, Lucifer ignored his Vessel. From the Cage, he could see the Righteous Man fighting to resist the urge to get off the rack. Azazel was carving into him, Lucifer’s pupil, and now it was killing Lucifer to watch.

Much to the Fallen’s relief, Dean stepped off the rack, took up the blade, and cut into a damned soul.

The First Seal had broken.

“Now!” he shouted to the hound.

The hound broke out into a sprint. Lucifer watched as it charged up the layers of hell and though the fires as he made his way to Dean Winchester. The hellhound pivoted his legs and snatched Dean, tearing him away from the rack.

Demons chased after the hound as it charged deeper and deeper into the pit. Some of the demons backed away as the hound approached Lucifer and his wrath, others continued to hunt the hound.

One of the demons managed to hit the hellhound with a cursed blade in the leg. The hellhound cried out, but continued to run towards Lucifer.

By the time the hellhound reached Lucifer’s Cage, only two demons remained. Snatching the soul from the hound, Lucifer wrapped his grace around the soul of Dean Winchester and growled at the demons. One of them, the one who threw the cursed blade, threw another and killed the hellhound.

Lucifer flared his grace quickly and burnt the one to a crisp. The other that followed dodged the beam of holy light.

“The King of the Crossroads, honoring me with his presence,” Lucifer chuckled darkly. Dean’s soul was seared and flayed. Lucifer tried to put Dean where Sam’s soul would one day fit, but it was like jamming a piece of a puzzle that wasn’t meant to be.

“What are you doing with Dean Winchester, Devil?” Lucifer growled again.

“Perhaps I am saving him for myself.” Lucifer waited for the demon to reply. “Better start running. Soon, I will be with my Vessel and I will destroy it all,” he warned. The demon quickly left after that.

Lucifer looked around his Cage, making sure that no eyes were watching before he tended to the broken soul in his grasp.

Dean’s soul was so much like Michael’s grace it nearly angered him. But he was different than Michael. Dean had sold his soul to save Sam. He had refused to kill his younger brother when he was ordered by his father- and for that, Lucifer could keep him safe from further harm until his angel would show up.

Lucifer still wanted to give Sam hope.

The sliver of his halo, the small fraction that was hovering weakly over his head didn’t need to be cut off. Lucifer lifted his hands to his crown and took the remainder off.

“Your brother is safe, Sam,” he whispered to it.

Lucifer carefully maneuvered Dean’s quaking soul, hushing it when it thrashed, and sending it to Sam.

“Soon, Dean Winchester, you too, will be safe.”

-

Nausea- that’s what Sam felt when he spent too much time around Ruby.

The demon was helpful, but his stomach turned whenever he spent too much time with her. One time, she had tried to kiss him in a bar and Sam nearly vomited on the spot. The demon had been offended, but he didn’t care about her feelings.

She was a means to an end.

Working with a demon would have pissed Dean off, but Sam needed answers and results. Hunting wasn’t getting them, Ruby was.

But he had to compromise.

When she implied that demon blood would help boost his powers he scoffed at the idea. When she sliced her wrist open, he did throw up.

The smell was horrid- sulfur to a whole new extent that he wasn’t prepared for.

Ruby, to say the least, was extremely offended and left for several days.

Sam didn’t think that he needed his powers to get anywhere. Demons were showing up and he continued to use her knife (a sign of trust-she said) and it got him some results.

Glass shattered behind him, making the hunter quickly grab his gun as he turned.

He lowered it with a fond smile as the light hovered before him.

This time, however, his necklace actually lifted from where it rested on his chest and glowed with the small bead of light. The necklace pulled him forward, goosebumps prickling his skin as he walked forward. The bead of light slowly wrapped around the silver necklace and flashed brightly like it had the very first time Sam saw it.

 _Your brother is safe, Sam,_ a warm voice whispered in his head. Sam turned around quickly, looking for whatever gave him the message.

“Lucifer?” he asked, looking down at the silver chain and holding it up. Sam swallowed thickly, tears brimming to his eyes as a new wave of hope surrounded him. “Thank you,” he whispered.

*

Castiel had only seen Hell at a distance. He was the angel that was destined to free the Righteous Man from Hell so that he may one day save the world.

He could see the bright soul, but it was much further down than his superiors told him it would be. Nevertheless, Castiel flew.

Halting in Hell as an angel was not advised, but he nearly did when he noticed that Dean Winchester was being held hostage by none other than Lucifer.

“Come closer, little brother,” Lucifer whispered from the Cage. “The demons will not tread on this ground.”

Castiel knew the power of his older brother; even in the Cage Lucifer could destroy him.

“Hand over Dean Winchester.”

“Come closer so that I may hand him to you,” Lucifer said, his voice sounding tired rather than malicious. “There has been great harm done to his soul that I cannot heal.” Castiel heard the Morningstar say. “I shall not allow him to endure anymore torture than he has.”

“Then why send your demons to tempt him?” the younger asked, stepping closer to the bars.

“All humans have free will; Dean Winchester chose his fate.” Lucifer seemed to hum for a moment. Castiel could see that Dean’s soul was not being smothered or burned by Lucifer’s bright grace- it was being shielded. There was no way that the younger angel could pull his charge from Lucifer without dying.

“Hand him over, now,” Castiel ordered. Lucifer laughed softly.

“In due time, young Castiel.” At the younger’s flinch, Lucifer chuckled again. “Yes, I remember you. You were the young angel with black wings and the only one brave enough to dare play with me and young Gabriel before my Fall.”

Castiel ignored the ache in his grace at the mention of his older brother’s and the good memories they shared.

“Listen close, little angel, and listen well,” Lucifer whispered. “I shall hand over Dean Winchester, but consider my words.” Castiel stepped closer when Lucifer remained silent. “This bright soul has been flayed- as all the souls here have been,” the archangel explained. “But if you take this soul up to earth- he will perish and within his physical body, shall burn away and die.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked. Lucifer was silent again.

“Do you believe we have free will?” Lucifer asked. “Or was I a part of Father’s plan all along, to be tainted from the beginning and Fall- making the evil of this world?”

“You chose your fate.” Castiel said, refusing to give into the angel. Lucifer only seemed to smile at his answer.

“Then that means that you too, have free will, and I can still choose.” Lucifer held out Dean’s soul. When Castiel went to grab it, Lucifer pulled the soul back and grabbed the younger angel, pulling him close enough to the bars that his grace grazed the barbs but did no harm.

“I no longer seek the end of days. Why would brother dearest only send you down when Dean Winchester broke the First Seal? He is the one you must fear, little angel.” Lucifer let go of Castiel and passed off Dean’s soul. “You must bond with him in order for him to survive.” He said this as almost a passing comment.

Castiel hesitated for the first time in a long time.

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked. Lucifer chuckled again.

“Not only will it save Dean Winchester, but take this as a sign of faith that I am on the side of humanity rather than the destruction of their race: it negates the Vesselhood of Dean Winchester.”

Castiel knew he was at an impasse; he knew his brother’s words were true.

The younger angel could feel the deep wounds on Dean Winchester’s soul. He would not survive on earth in the condition he was in. Yet, if he wove a piece of his grace to his soul- Michael would likely kill him in the hopes that the bond would shatter.

“It is now your time to choose, little angel.”

“And if I should bond myself to the human,” Castiel asked. Lucifer hummed fondly.

“Don’t act like you haven’t already fallen grace over wings for the human. I remember you in the field of souls. This one was your favorite.” If Castiel was in a vessel, he would have blushed. “You’ve already made your choice, it is now a matter of following through.”

Castiel paused before he reached out his grace to sooth the soul.

“And you, brother?” he asked. “What are you waiting to follow through on?”

For the first time in their entire conversation, Lucifer looked up to where Earth and the land of the mortals was.

“One day, I too, will find my human.” A noise tore his attention away from Earth. “Go, little angel. Soon, we shall meet again without bars and screams.” Castiel quickly wrapped his grace around Dean Winchester, severing some of his being to protect the soul and heal the wounds. “Go! Quickly, Castiel!” Lucifer ordered.

And Castiel followed his older brother’s orders.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support that has generated because of this story. Love to you all.

Flying out of hell was exhausting to Castiel. He had flown great distances before, but never could he imagine that hellfire would seep into his feathers so quickly.

It was like tar- sticky and erosive on his feathers as his wings carried them out of the deepest corner of Hell. Demons could only approach so close before his true form burnt them to a crisp but their weapons foraged in the hellfire slowed him down.

But he would not fail.

For some reason, Castiel was chosen to dive into Hell and pull the soul of Dean Winchester from the rack.

He would ponder why Lucifer held his soul when they were both free.

When he broke free of Hell, the air that Earth provided felt like the kind that was in Heaven to Castiel. His grace was tired and wounded from flying to and from Hell along with the cut he gave to Dean Winchester so his soul would retain its sanity.

His wings shook in his true form as his grace reached out for the connection to Heaven. Dean’s soul pulsed gently within his grace, almost as if it was trying to comfort him. Castiel ignored it for the time being- he needed to get Dean Winchester’s soul back into its body.

Finding the body was not difficult, he watched when it was buried and committed every part of his flesh to memory for when it would need to be rebuilt.  

Warping the molecules together, Castiel rebuilt and rebound the flesh to the bone. It was a tiring process, moving around things that weren’t meant to be anymore, but it was his purpose- the reason he was created.

“It is done,” he said, relieved. Castiel reached his grace towards Dean’s soul and moved it from his being gently. Or tried to.

The soul was clinging to Castiel, shaking and afraid.

“It is time,” he said to the stubborn soul. But the soul did not listen to his words, trying to stay attached to him.

Castiel knew that ripping the soul away from him would traumatize his already fragile mental state. It could even harm himself as he removed a piece of his grace and gave it to the soul not that long ago.

The angel relaxed around the soul, waiting for it to calm as he wrapped himself around the ball of light. He was filled with a sense of pride at being able to fix the body suddenly as the soul tried its hardest to wrap around him, still getting used to the grace within his soul. Dean Winchester’s soul was a bright one, filled with bravery and loyalty for those he cared about.

Something laced through Castiel he had not felt before. It was dark and near unholy as he bound the soul deeper within his grace. He found he did not like that his older brother had touched this soul and held it as he was now.

 _Possessiveness,_ his thoughts told him. It was odd to him, experiencing it himself. He had watched countless humans fight over what they thought was rightfully theirs and could never understand why they were obsessed with something.

But now he could understand a little better.

This soul was his and his alone.

Castiel had marked Dean as his own with a portion of his grace.

And Dean had accepted it.

Castiel knew that he would have to let the soul go, but he did not want to. He wanted this soul all to himself.

 _Soon,_ he thought. Castiel tried to put the soul back into the body of Dean Winchester yet again but had the same results.

“I will return, Dean Winchester,” he whispered to his soul. Dean fought a little less as he was removed from the center of Castiel’s grace. “I promise.”

Castiel pushed Dean’s soul back into his body and pulled his first breath out of his lungs.

 _Dean Winchester is saved,_ he thought.

*

With every seal that was broken, Lucifer got a little more room in his Cage. It was like the bars were warping outward to mold to his true size rather than bending against it.

Soon, Lucifer would be free.

*

Sam was wary around the angel that Dean introduced him too. The way the angel looked at him when they first met threw him off.

Dean didn’t really believe in angels and was skeptical of Castiel, dubbed Cas by his older brother, and the existence of angels.

Sam had known since he was four that angels were very real.

He had one of his own, after all.

Needless to say, when Castiel called him an abomination, Sam was filled with a sense of self loathing and rage at the angel that saved his brother.

Sam had no part of being forced demon blood when he was a baby.

Castiel informed them of the upcoming apocalypse and Lucifer’s rising; emphasizing that it needed to be stopped.

And so Sam and Dean continued to hunt, but were stopped from time to time when a Seal needed to be saved.

And Sam needed to stop himself from wanting them to be broken.

Every time he was told that a Seal had been broken, he desperately tried to hide his enthusiasm or stop from touching the necklace that he had.

Castiel only regarded the necklace for a second, but didn’t comment on it.

The pattern of the angels looking at Sam’s necklace continued, he noticed certain things about the angels. First, every angel that met Sam immediately didn’t like him. Second, each one looked at the necklace with a questioning glace. Third, no angel said anything about it. Fourth, if the same angel met Sam a second time, the angel would ignore the necklace.

This lead Sam to the conclusion that they didn’t know about it.

And Sam was not going to ask them questions about it’s origins.

But he continued to pray to Lucifer.

 _Lucifer,_ he prayed after his brother had returned to him. _Dean is back from Hell. I am relieved and happy that he is back but there seems to be something missing. I would think that coming back from Hell would bring nightmares or some form of PTSD, but Dean isn’t showing any real signs._

_We both have our nightmares, but Dean’s don’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. I don’t know why I am thinking that he should be in pain…I don’t know anything about souls._

_I guess I should just be happy that he is safe and sane._

Sam prayed after Castiel left.

_Lucifer, I met the angel that freed Dean from Hell. His name is Castiel. He warned us about the apocalypse and that it should be stopped at all costs._

_Is it bad that I want it to come? I think that it is._

_He, Castiel, looked at the necklace that I know is from you but didn’t say anything about it. I don’t think he knows what it is. Not that I do either._

_He and the other angels want Dean and I to stop demons from breaking the Seals. They have a funny way of asking for things though; Castiel, upon meeting me, called me the Boy with Demon Blood._

_I’ve been called other things by demons but to hear that from an angel made me- well- I wasn’t happy._

Dean and Sam saved the Seals that they could, but Sam somehow knew it would be for nothing. Castiel, when he appeared with (and only for) Dean would continue to look at Sam like he was a mystery.

Then there was the night it all went wrong.

It went like this…

Sam had just finished his shower, stepping out of the warm bathroom in his bed clothes and was going to get ready for another night of sleep. Dean, who had taken the first shower, was finishing assembling the last part of his gun.

“Sammy?” Dean asked. Sam immediately looked at his brother, his tone was that of concern yet not the kind that made him worry about his safety.

“Yeah?” he answered slowly. Dean looked down at the table and slowly exhaled.

“When you were younger,” Dean started, clicking the safety on the gun and dropping it into the duffle bag. “You were really sick.” Sam tried to recall a time that he was really sick when he was younger but couldn’t remember a time.

“You had a high fever and Dad wasn’t around.” Sam didn’t want to say that his father was rarely around for either of them- it would make his older brother clam up. “I was going to take you to the hospital, that’s how sick you were.”

“I must have been really sick then,” he said in a calm manner as he sat down. He knew that if Dean was going to take him to see doctors and risk exposing their nomadic and horribly independent lifestyle then he must have been very ill.

“Yeah,” Dean huffed a laugh, “you really were. I don’t even think you knew what was going on.” Dean paused and moved to the bed. He sat down on the edge and put his elbows on his knees, eyes fixated on a stain in the carpet.

“I don’t know what happened that day, but some light crashed through the window.” Sam’s blood went cold at the thought his brother had witnessed a part of Lucifer connecting to him. “It went right to you, without pause, and wrapped itself around your neck.” Sam stayed very still, refraining from reaching up to touch the could metal.

“Whatever it was, it broke your fever.”

Sam was at a loss for what to say to his brother.

“The same thing happened the night that Jess died.”

Sam remembered most of that night until he had been dragged from the building. The rest of that night was a blur. He didn’t even know that Lucifer had helped him.

“I’m getting the feeling that whatever is wrapped around your neck is related to this Lucifer thing,” Dean shook his head. There was a moment of silence between the two. Dean eventually looked up at Sam and said, “But that light could have killed us a long time ago, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.”

Dean stood up to turn out the lights to the motel. When he flicked the switch, Sam listened to his older brother get into the bed as he pulled the sheets over him.

“Thank you, Dean,” Sam said, knowing his brother was deep in thought.

-

Castiel flew down the moment that he felt Dean’s distress. He could see several demons surrounding his soul and reacted out of fear.

He simply took Dean away from the darkness and flew far.

-

Sam, who had to shield his eyes with his hands at the bright light, was now dazed and feeling like he was going to throw up.

He was also being dragged, but he didn’t know where he was being taken.

He could hear voices talking to him, a cold surface on his back and needles being put in his arm. Whatever they were giving him was making him feel an equal amount of nausea and anger.

“A few more,” someone said.

Sam rolled his head back onto the hard surface when more needles pricked into his skin.

“Now,” a woman said, “give it to him now,”

Sam, who came out of the sick haze was immediately angry. He looked down at the three demons around him and killed the first two without thought. The third, the woman, was smiling as Sam stalked up to her and stabbed her in the stomach.

“Thank you, Sam,” she whispered in his ear as she leaned onto him. “Lucifer is free now.”

Sam just smiled at her.

“Good,” he told her as she died.

And that was when Hell broke loose.

-

Neither Dean nor Sam knew how they ended up on the plane as a cosmic beam of light shot though the sky, but both of them where exhausted. Sam had been clutching the silver necklace as he fought off the need to vomit.

Dean, who had been trying desperately to hide his fear, was the one to tell him that Sam was probably coming off a demon blood high.

“Dean,” Sam said through grit teeth as the plane landed. “We have to find Cas.”

“We’ll call him when we land,” Dean muttered, eyes closed. “The last thing we need is an angel crash landing into the side of an airplane.”

When the plane landed and the doors opened, Sam was honestly surprised at how quickly Dean leapt over him and ran off the plane. With a pained laugh, he followed his brother.

-

“Lucifer has been freed of his Cage,” Castiel said when he dropped the two of them off in their motel, Dean checking the window for Baby.

“What does this mean?” Sam asked, “other than the obvious.”

Cas opened his mouth, but shut it quickly. At his silence, the brothers shared a glance then looked back to the angel.

“Cas?” Dean asked. Castiel looked over at Dean, then back at Sam and sighed.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. Castiel, the usually stiff angel, pulled up a chair and slouched on it, fingers touching his lips in a near nervous gesture.

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?”

“I mean I don’t know, Dean,” he growled. Cas shook his head.

“When you were in hell, you were not on the line as I and the other angels suspected,” the angel said. Dean, who never talked about hell, sat down on his bed.

“I don’t understand,” he said quietly.

“You were with Lucifer.” The angel looked over to Sam and held his gaze with the younger brother. “Lucifer somehow managed to grab your soul.”

“And you never told me that the Devil was holding me?” Dean growled to the angel, standing up and clenching his fists.

“And how was I to tell you that?”

“What was Lucifer doing?” Sam asked, forcing himself to not touch the necklace under his shirt. His question was a lie though. Sam could remember that moment when he received another light from the angel that Dean was safe. It was the only time Lucifer had spoken to him, but he remembered it well.

“From the looks of it, and from what he told me,” Castiel said, “he was protecting Dean from Hell’s influence.”

“Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know!” Castiel shouted, a flash of lightening cracking though the sky. “He spoke of free will and he-“

“He what, Cas?” Dean asked, walking next to the enraged angel and setting a hand on his shoulder. Sam watched as the angel deflated, then gave that soul-piercing look at Dean.

“He gave me a sign of faith that he does not want this world to perish as it is written,” he confessed. “And from what I have witnessed since I took action upon his words, he has been correct. Which, of course means, that his word is true.” Castiel slumped back into the chair and closed his eyes.

“What was the sign of faith?” Sam asked, feeling hopeful for his own angel’s sake. “What did he tell you?”

“He told me,” the angel said to the ground, “how Dean could retain his sanity when he returned to earth.”

“So the Devil is on our side?” Dean asked. “What are we worried for then?”

“I fear,” Castiel began, “that it is no longer Hell we are threatened by, but Heaven.”

Dean flopped down on the bed next to Sam and sighed.

“Well shit,” he said.

Sam and Cas agreed without words.

*

Lucifer was free and he wasted no time on flying out of the Cage in a rather explosive manner. For the moment, he could not feel Sam. But if he were to approach his Vessel, he could run the risk of killing him in his true form.

So he flew off to find the other one that would best fit him.

It didn’t take much to convince the suicidal man to allow him entrance when he could go straight to Heaven so that he could be with his family. Lucifer killed him quickly and painlessly, watching the reaper take his soul and then vanish.

Lucifer was surprised that Nick was not searing at the seams like he expected until Sam allowed him in. Nick wasn’t the best fit, but he wasn’t a bad one.

Flexing his fingers, Lucifer put on some clothes and walked outside. It was a calm night, rain falling softly in the town. He touched his hands to the grass and sighed in bliss as the rain fell onto his back. He gave a full body stretch, wings fanning out unseen by mortal eyes to catch the rain.

“Now to find Sam,” he whispered.

He stretched his grace out and found his soul immediately. His halo was wrapped around his human. Lucifer smiled and flew near his human.

Lucifer didn’t want to startle Sam with his first impression and conversation. He was nervous- Lucifer had planned many conversations and ways he could talk to Sam but now that he was so close, it seemed overwhelming.

Sam was sleeping; he could feel how calm Sam was. Lucifer extended his grace and slid into Sam’s mind.

-

There was a man standing in the motel room.

He had blond hair and blue eyes, worn clothing and pale skin.

“Hello Sam,” the man said.

“Lucifer?” Sam asked hesitantly, his voice small as if he spoke any louder the man would blow away. The man smiled and took two steps forward, still five feet away from him.

“Yes Sam,” his angel said. Sam smiled brightly, eyes watering as he walked to his angel and embraced him tightly. The angel chuckled into his neck, cool arms wrapping around his back to hold him tight. “I’m here, Sam. I’m here,” the angel assured.

“It’s really you?” Sam asked, still holding tightly. “I’ve waited for years; this can’t be a dream.”

“It’s not, Sam.” Lucifer pulled far enough away from Sam that the two could look each other in the eyes. Lucifer pulled one hand away from Sam’s back and reached up to touch Sam’s neck. A bright glow flashed around the two of them.

“What-“

“My halo,” Lucifer answered, tracing around the circle of his grace.

“How?” Sam asked in a hoarse whisper, his fingers touching the glowing ring around his neck that he had wondered about for years.

“Not easily,” Lucifer laughed, “I assure you.”

Sam looked up at Lucifer and took a step back, distancing himself from the angel.

“Lucifer,” Sam said, shaking his head, “I can’t…I can’t say yes.” Lucifer smiled softly, raising his hand up to cup his cheek.

“I know,” Lucifer sighed. “I confess, there was one time where I wanted us to be together as _one,_ but I don’t want that anymore.”

“And the apocalypse?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“I don’t want that either.”

Angel and vessel stood together in the dreamscape, only half an arms width away from each other.

“I still don’t like humans, Sam,” Lucifer said, turning his head and looking out the window of the dream. “I still have my wrath and my pride, but you showed me some of the good of humanity.” Lucifer traced the outline of his left hand. “I ask that you continue to teach me about humanity,” the angel asked, blue eyes looking up at him. “In all its facets.”

Sam closed the distance between the two of them, taking Lucifer’s hands into his own.

“I’ve met bad angels,” Sam said, looking down at their joined hands. “You will meet bad humans. Together, we can find the good in both.”

Lucifer smiled at his human. He raised a hand to his forehead and let his grace wash over the hunter, lulling him into a peaceful sleep.

“Sleep well, Sam,” Lucifer whispered as the dream faded away. “We will see each other soon.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you are my lovely followers! Thank you!!!

“Fairies?” Dean scoffed, from where he was looking at Sam. “We are dealing with the Apocalypse and you are telling me that there are _fairies?”_

“I know it sounds...farfetched,” Sam said, turning the computer screen around for Dean to look at the lore. “But the only other option are witches and we didn’t find any hex bags.”

“I don’t know if I would want it to be a witch.” Dean muttered. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, eyes raised to the ceiling in annoyance before he sighed with a flop of his hands.

“Alright,” Dean said, “let’s fight those fairies.”

*

Dean shot the last fairy before it attacked his brother. The fairy stopped breathing, body slumped on the ground and hand in the circle it and the other three had created. Dean walked around the body and pat his brother on the back.

“A job well done,” Dean said. Sam huffed a laugh and walked over to the circle, nudging the white powder away to break the curve. “I thought it would have been more, you know?” Dean asked, turning and rolling his eyes at the crappy décor.

When Sam groaned in pain, hunched over and holding his abdomen, Dean cursed. The broken ring lifted off the ground and coiled around Sam. Dean shouted for his brother, holding the gun up but not shooting because he could harm him.

The coil enveloped Sam like a cocoon, hummed, then shrank.

The ring vanished and left behind a smaller, kid version of Sam on the ground. Dean rushed over to his little brother, checking if he was still breathing and sighed when he felt a strong heartbeat.

“Me and my big mouth,” Dean muttered. “Come on, Sammy, wake up,” he said to his brother, shaking his shoulders.

“’o away, Dean,” Sam growled, shoving his arm weakly at him. Dean rolled his eyes as Sam fell back asleep or passed out.

“Let’s hope Cas knows what to do,” Dean said, picking his brother up and grabbing their gear. He drove back to the motel slowly, careful not to jostle Sam as he drove.

Picking his smaller brother up, Dean walked to their motel room, shifting his weight so he could unlock the door. He closed the door carefully behind him, then put Sam down on the bed.

Sam looked to be about six years old from what Dean could remember. He was starting to grow into his lanky legs, but his torso was still a little small. Dean smiled fondly, remembering when they were younger, still playing, and Sam would run into things because he forgot how big he was getting.

Shaking himself from the thoughts, he stood and put himself in front of Sam.

“I pray to Castiel,” Dean said, looking up at the stained ceiling and trying not to think about it, “that he come over and help me with a,” he looked back at his once again child brother, “a really, _really_ weird problem.”

He heard a flutter of wings to his left and took a step back when the angel was so close to him.

“Hello Dean,” he said in his hoarse voice. Dean stared into Cas’ eyes, the blue ones looking right back at him. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked. Cas looked down at Dean, eyes looking over his body in a way that made the man feel uncomfortable. “You do not seem to be injured yet there is a magical residue around you.”

Dean stepped aside, pointing at his brother on the bed.

“Sam seems to be unharmed, yet there is a magical bond around him.”

“Are you missing the part where he is in the body of a six year old?” Dean asked, eyebrow raised. Cas tilted his head and took a step towards his brother as if to get a better look.

“I see why you called me,” Cas eventually said, pulling his eyes from the smaller brother. “He appears to be sleeping and unharmed.”

“How do I get him back?” Dean asked, moving to the other side of the bed, both looking down at Sam. Cas was silent for another minute before he stretched his hand out and touched the boy’s forehead.

“There is something else,” he said, tone questioning and confused. Dean grit his teeth and looked at the necklace his brother always kept on. Before Cas could move his hand to uncover the mystery jewelry, Sam twitched his hands and head.

“Sammy?” Dean asked, knees pressed up against the bed to check on his brother. Sam’s eyes fluttered against his closed lids and he kicked his one leg. The angel and adult waited for something more to happen or for his movements to stop completely.

Sam’s eyes opened slowly, pupils contracting and dilating in a dazed manner before settling on Cas. He drew in a sharp breath of fear and flinched from the angel.

“Hey, Sammy,” Dean said slowly, trying to settle his younger brother. Sam tensed further and looked over at Dean, shrinking his legs to his chest. His eyes darted around the room, holding for a second at the door then at the two of them.

“It is clear he doesn’t recognize us,” Cas said, looking up at Dean.

“Who are you?” Sam asked, voice strained and panicked.

“I’m your brother,” Dean tried, ignoring Cas’ words. Sam simply shook his head. He looked back at the door, then at Dean.

He lunged.

Dean managed to grab him, but he had forgotten that Sam’s awkward body allowed him to wiggle out of places.

“Let me go!” he shouted, kicking at Dean as he trashed his body in attempts to escape.

“Sam, it’s me,” Dean said, still trying to hold his brother.

“Help!” he shouted. Sam leaned down at kicked Dean in the shin. Dean dropped him in surprise and Sam ran for the door. He was stopped by Cas flying in front of it to keep him in.

Sam began to breathe harder as his escape was blocked.

“We are trying to help you,” the one in the trench coat said, but giving no clues as to how. Sam backed up, keeping his eyes on both of them.

“Knock him out, Cas,” the taller man said. The other approached Sam, his hand outstretched. Sam tried to dive to the side so he could get to the door, but the man approaching blocked him again.

“No,” Sam said, his back now pressed against the wall. “Don’t touch me,” Sam glared at the man, trying to keep tears falling from his eyes.

The man touched his forehead, a feeling of calm washing over him.

“I said _no!”_ he shouted.

The man who touched him was forced back against the other wall. The three of them were stunned. Sam looked down at his necklace he had for two years. It was glowing around his neck.

“Lucifer,” he whispered.

“No, Sam!” the man on the ground shouted at him. Sam looked up, fear running through him again. He gripped the glowing band around his neck.

“Lucifer!” he shouted, praying that the angel would help him from the men that were keeping him in the room.

Castiel watched, body now forced against the wall as the fallen angel swept Sam off his feet and held him close. Dean was quickly slammed into the wall next to him, held up by the archangel’s power.

“Let my brother go, you bastard,” Dean snarled. Sam shrunk in Lucifer’s arm, body curling into the angel as he hid his face.

“Oh Sam,” Lucifer whispered. “It’s alright.”

Castiel tried to break the bonds holding the two of them up with an enochian spell, but his voice had been taken from him.

 He looked over at Dean, who was still trying to break the bonds with physical strength if it was to go by the way his muscles were straining.

The same flash that pushed him away from Sam happened again, pulling the angel’s eyes away from Dean’s bicep.

Lucifer was rocking a scared Sam in his arms, humming a nameless tune and ignoring the two of them as he calmed the younger Winchester. The halo around Sam’s neck, _Lucifer’s_ halo, glowed brightly and moved up above Sam’s head, then hovered there.

“Easy Sam,” Lucifer said, turning so that Sam wasn’t looking at the two of them. The fallen angel gave a wink and a smirk to Cas before he turned back to look out the window.

“I know they scared you,” he whispered to Sam. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

“They wanted to hurt me,” Sam said, his eyes still shut tight into Lucifer’s neck, tears running down it and seeping into his shirt. Lucifer looked back at the two of them, then leaned backwards so Sam would look at him.

“I highly doubt that,” Lucifer said softly.

Castiel turned his head as he watched the fallen angel and his destined vessel interact. It was as if nothing malicious happened to any of them. It reminded Castiel of the time when he would run to Gabriel and Lucifer because of what the other angels had said about him. Lucifer comforted him as Gabriel tried to make him laugh.

“That is your brother, Sam.” Lucifer nodded his head to Dean and the bonds holding them against the wall dropped. “I know he looks different, but that is your brother.” Sam rubbed his eyes with the back of his wrists. “And the other one is my younger brother,” Lucifer said, his gaze back on Sam. “You’re safe with us.”

Sam sniffled and looked over at the two of them, then back at Lucifer, the halo following his movements flawlessly.

“You promise?” Sam asked quietly. Lucifer smiled gently and nodded.

“I would never lie to you, Samuel.” Sam ducked his head at Lucifer when the angel gave his full name. The angel lifted his hand and pulled the halo down Sam’s neck, it dimmed and the grace resting down against his neck. Castiel realized that is what had been strange about Sam since they met. He felt something different, inhuman, attached to him, but he assumed wrongly that it was the demon blood.

“Dean Winchester,” Lucifer said, setting Sam down on the floor to stand on his own. Sam kept his hand intertwined with Lucifer’s though. “Good to finally meet you in the flesh.”

Dean was saved from insulting the fallen angel when his brother perked up.

“Dean!” he said, running to his taller brother and giving him a hug in front of two angels. Dean looked down at his brother in the hopes that it would hide his blushing cheeks.

“Hey, Sammy,” he said, a bit awkwardly. Sam, who did not sense the tension in the room looked back at Lucifer with a smile. He turned his head so that his gaze was on Cas.

“Hello,” he greeted, a bit shy around the stranger. Cas tilted his head and looked down at Sam, his eyes on the halo.

“Hello Sam,” he eventually said.

Dean was going to ask his brother what the last thing he remembered was but he was cut off when his younger brother’s stomach growled.

“Can we eat?” Sam asked, one hand on his stomach and his puppy eyes full force on his brother. Dean looked cautiously over at Lucifer, then glanced back at Cas before sighing and giving a single nod.

“Lucifer!” Sam shouted, walking back to the angel and taking his hand. “You should come too!”

“Yes,” Lucifer said, looking up at Dean to cut off his protests, “I believe we all have much to discuss.” He looked back down at Sam with a smile. “And what better place then a room filled with people to keep calm.”

“I don’t think we get a choice, Dean,” Cas said to the hunter.

Dean, all those years ago, knew that whatever that glowing light that had wrapped its way around Sam was not dangerous. It cured him of an illness that had the potential to separate them. He even told his brother that he knew of its existence and that he would not try and remove it.

But seeing the archangel that they had been warned about made Dean, rightfully, cautious.

“Come on, Dean,” Sam protested, letting go of Lucifer to grab his hand and drag him out of the motel room. Cas had followed Dean out of the room, still watching Sam and his actions. Lucifer, who had shut the door behind them, watched in amusement as Sam dragged his brother to the car.

“Is it common for humans to ride in these?” Lucifer asked his brother. Castiel hesitated, watching Dean point for his brother to get in the backseat instead of riding ‘shotgun.’

“It is the Winchester’s sole mode of transportation, yes” he replied. Sam, who threw his head back in protest, climbed over the front seats and flopped in the back, a smug look on his face as his brother growled at him for not ‘respecting baby.’

“There is a life in this vehicle,” Lucifer commented.

“You and I both know that the Winchester’s were raised in this car.” Castiel, at Dean’s call, walked over to the human and slid into where Sam had vacated at Dean’s demand. Sam scrambled over to the side car door and popped it open with a smile and a wave for Lucifer to get in.

 _Somewhere,_ Dean thought as he shifted the car in drive and watching Lucifer as Sam taught him how to buckle up (telling him why they have too), _God is looking at this and laughing._

The drive to the diner was reasonably quiet. Sam’s stomach kept growling and he would get excited looking at some of the road signs like he used to. At one long red light, Sam sat up and pointed out a dog that was walking with its owner.

“I like dogs,” he said as he settled back down and the car drove onward.

“Why didn’t you ever get one?” Lucifer asked.

“Dad said we can’t have one because it wouldn’t be able to live on the road like we do.”

“And who’s fault is that?” Dean growled, anger racing through him as he looked at Lucifer through the rearview mirror.

“Dean,” Cas warned, his eyes darting to look back at his brother.

“Who’s is it?” Sam asked, looking at his brother.

Lucifer simply sighed, looking out the side window.

“If I had known that my actions a millennia ago would have caused the pain and suffering you and your brother have gone through collectively, I would have never done what I did.”

Dean decided it would be best to ignore what the angel had said and how it made him feel.

When they pulled into the diner parking lot, Sam nearly jumped out of the Impala before it stopped moving in his excitement.

“I believe the transformation used much of his energy,” Cas said, watching as Sam practically bounced into the diner.

“Do you really think this is safe, Cas?” Dean asked, keeping his eyes trained on Sam as he bounced around Lucifer as they made their way to the diner entrance.

“Lucifer could have killed both of us with ease when he arrived at Sam’s cry of distress.” Following Dean to the diner, he thought about the event. “In fact, he could have very easily killed me as I was attacked first by Lucifer’s grace.”

“Yeah,” Dean said, holding the door open for the angel. “What was that.”

“It was Lucifer’s halo,” Cas said in a low voice. Dean looked over to where Sam was waving for them to sit at the table. Lucifer was seated next to Sam, boxing him into the wall. Dean walked over and slid in first, sitting across from his brother coloring on the placemat.

Dean picked up a menu, opened it, then handed it to Cas.

“I don’t require sustenance,” he said.

“You should really try new things, brother, since you’re going native,” Lucifer said, looking at his own menu.

“Why do they have these complicated names?” Cas asked, confused as to what a ‘Donna Whopper’ was.

“Cas,” Dean said, looking at the angel with dead eyes, “I’m human, doesn’t mean I understand my race and why we do things.”

Lucifer and Sam both laughed.

The waiter came over to the four of them, setting four glasses of water down at their places.

“What can I get you?” he asked them.

“I’ll have the sun sandwich, please,” Sam asked, smiling at the man. The man hesitated at a kid ordering from the adult menu.

“It’s fine,” Dean said to him, hoping the man would not piss off Lucifer. The fallen angel seemed calm around Dean, happy around Sam, but this was his first time observing the angel around a random human. The man, Phillip, shrugged and wrote down the order, causing Dean to breathe a sigh of relief.

Dean and Cas both ordered a burger and Lucifer, surprisingly, ordered one of their mac and cheese specials.

When the human walked away, Lucifer folded his hands and smiled at the two across the table.

“I’m sure you both have questions.”

“What do you want with Sam?” Dean asked. Sam looked up at his brother, then at Lucifer before rolling his eyes and going back to his maze with his crayon.

“The same thing that we both want,” Lucifer said. “For him to be happy and safe.”

“How did Sam receive your halo?” Cas asked. Lucifer smiled at his brother.

“When Sam was in immense emotional or physical pain,” Lucifer began, “I would sever pieces of my grace and send them to him in the hopes that he got them as he is my vessel.”

“Sam’s not going to say yes,” Dean told him.

“How did you sever your halo?” Cas asked over Dean. Lucifer looked at the two of them.

“I am aware that Sam will not say yes. That is not what I desire,” he said to Dean. “And humans have been known to cut off limbs in order to survive, Castiel.” Lucifer smirked at his brother’s horrified look. “It did not come pain free.”

Lucifer waved his hand then picked up a crayon and began coloring on his own placemat.

“The Apocalypse will still go on, but not from my end,” he told them. He was about to say more, but their waiter came back to put their food down. Sam and Cas were the ones that thanked the man. After taking a bite of his mac and cheese, humming at the flavors, he grinned at Castiel who was taking his first bite. “I believe that Michael and Raphael will still want the big fight to go down, but I will try and find a way to stop them both.”

“Michael is ordering forces to find the Winchester’s using any means,” Cas said, then taking another bite of his food.

“Even so, my brother doesn’t have a vessel so he cannot get far,” he said. “If he makes a move to kill Sam I will kill him.” He ignored Cas’ look of shock. “I would prefer to walk away from the Apocalypse completely, as a family again, but I am realistic, not blind.”

“How can we cure Sam?” Dean asked.

“No’thi’s wro’ wit me,” Sam said with his mouth full of sandwich.

“I believe Castiel and I can find an answer before the weeks end.” Lucifer looked down at Sam. “Until then, he will likely eat until he replaces his energy and sleep more.”

“The curse the fairies put on your brother is causing him no harm, Dean,” Cas said, laying a hand on Dean’s shoulder. The two of them looked back into each other’s eyes, Cas trying to calm his nervous hunter and Dean looking for stability.

The two of them were suddenly pulled when Sam banged on the table. He had a smug look on his face, a smirk on his lips as he leaned forward and looked at the two of them.

“What?” Dean asked, alarmed by his brother’s sudden noise. Cas looked back at his burger, picking it up and eating it to avoid the youngers eyes.

“Nothing,” Sam said with a smirk that didn’t look like ‘nothing.’ Dean rolled his eyes and continued to eat.

When Sam looked up at Lucifer, the angel winked at him.

“So?” Dean asked, “What did you tell Cas to keep me sane?”

Lucifer smirked over to his flushing brother, still not looking at anyone.

“You didn’t tell him, little brother?” Lucifer asked rhetorically.

“It wasn’t of import,” he replied.

“I think it is of much _import,_ ” Lucifer said to his little brother. He looked casually back at Dean as he took his last bite of burger. “I told Castiel here that if you were to return to earth and retain your sanity, you would need a bit of his grace to keep you afloat.”

“So what?” Dean said. “He gave me a kidney?” Lucifer resisted the urge to sign, trap them in a room and pump the room full of asphoric. Lucky for the table, the waiter came back and took their plates when Dean and Cas finished, throwing Dean a wink before he walked away.

“Why did that man wink at you, Dean?” Cas asked. Lucifer leaned forward with his fingers locked.

“Yes, Dean,” Lucifer asked, smirking at him, “why did that man wink at you?” Dean blushed as he looked back at Cas.

“He was flirting with me,” Dean said. Cas tilted his head, then nodded once.

“I see,” he said. “He was propositioning himself for sex.”

“Cas,” Dean said, blushing harder and ignoring Lucifer’s chuckle. “You can’t say those things.”

“Was it because he was male?” Cas asked him. Dean flushed harder, but could not escape the booth.

“No,” he muttered. “Just not interested.”

“He was peacocking,” Lucifer told his brother, watching his grace lash out as his face gave nothing away. Lucifer was impressed.

“I don’t know,” Sam said. “With the way you two are looking at each other, I’d say Cas is doing some peacocking of his own, and he has _wings.”_ Sam popped his feet up from the booth, holding them close to his chest as Dean clearly kicked out to try and get his brother’s shins.

“Dean and Cas sittin’ in a tree,” he sang.

“I don’t understand,” Cas said, looking at the diner. “There is no foliage here to support our weight.”

“Ignore our brothers, Cas,” Dean said, face flaming as he scrambled out of the booth. “They are a bad influence.”

Lucifer and Sam, who escaped the booth after Sam finished his singing were in the parking lot laughing with each other- giving Cas a bad feeling in his stomach.

“Yes,” he said with a smile, “I can believe that.”

*

Cas was keeping Dean posted on the hunt for Sam’s cure via cellphone. It was day three of Sam being a kid and it was difficult as well as simple for the two of them.

Difficult because Dean was used to having an adult around that he could rely on instead of protect. Sam also had bounds of energy that was not good having pent up in the car. Dean tried to help his brother by going for walks when they were stopped at a motel or going to a playground if they had one, but it was difficult.

It was easy because Sam was a carefree kid again. He smiled and laughed openly. After Lucifer assured Sam that Dean was his brother, he didn’t seem to have any problem with Dean being years older than he was. To Dean, his child like innocence was refreshing.

Even more, Dean didn’t have to worry about Lucifer trying to possess Sam.

Dean, who was not happy to be researching, had found something that looked a little off, but nothing that would put Sam in harms way.

He parked the Impala by a warehouse and stepped inside, telling Sam to wait in the car.

Sam got out of the car when it became too hot inside. He turned his head when he heard a snap echo from inside the building and went to investigate. He carefully opened the door and was shocked to find a hospital.

“Hello?” Sam asked one of the nurses as she walked by, muttering to other doctors. “Please!” he shouted to them. He was ignored another time. Sam backed into a corner, looking around for Dean but not finding him.

Sam curled back down into a ball and rested his head on his knees. He hoped Dean would find  him soon.

-

Gabriel had Dean right where he wanted him. Walking around in Dr. Sexy land was perfect for his sexuality crisis.

The angel was surprised when it was only the older brother that showed up, but the brothers had a history of ‘taking time apart.’

He was genuinely surprised when he heard a cry from around the corner.

“Please!” a young voice shouted. Gabriel walked around the corner and observed a small boy crouch down in a corner to make himself look as small as possible in fear. Gabriel could see the young soul shining brightly in the body as he made his way over to the human.

 _Must have wondered in while I got Dean,_ he guessed.

“Hey, kiddo,” Gabriel said, waving his illusion away before he spoke. The child lifted his eyes at Gabriel and his chin wobbled.

“Who are you?” the kid asked. Gabriel hated lying to kids. This kid had soft floppy brown hair and hazel eyes that were watered, making them even larger. Gabriel felt like this was a bad idea, but he could handle the outcome of a scared kid easily.

“My name’s Gabriel,” he told him. “But that’s a secret.”

“My friend has a brother named Gabriel too!” the boy said in a loud whisper, excited but trying to be quiet. It made the angel smile.

“It’s a good name,” he told the kid, standing slowly. “I know the way out of here, if you want to follow me.”

“Okay,” the boy said, standing with a grin and rubbing the tears away with the bottom of his shirt.

“What’s your friends name?” Gabriel asked, walking them through the illusions that were currently keeping Dean busy.

“Luci,” he said.

“Lucy’s a good name too,” Gabriel said.

“His name is a secret like yours!” Gabriel paused at what the kid was saying. His pause allowed for Dean to come crashing through a set of double doors.

“Dean!” the kid said, running away from Gabriel.

“Trickster,” Dean growled, shoving Sam behind him. “I should have known.”

Sam, afraid of Dean’s reaction, grabbed the halo around his neck.

“Lucifer, help me,” he whispered.

“No!” Gabriel shouted.

But it was too late. Lucifer heard Sam’s scared praying for the second time in a week and immediately flew over. He warded the area, hoping that if angels had captured him, he would be able to tear them apart.

When he landed in front of Dean, blade drawn, he paused.

The other angel froze too.

“Gabriel,” Lucifer whispered. Gabriel drew his blade, but his hand was shaking.

“Don’t come closer, brother.” Lucifer ignored his words, dropping his blade to the floor.

“I thought you were dead,” he croaked. “I heard all of heaven proclaim your death.”

Lucifer stood before his brother, arms outstretched and waited for his brother’s response. When he got none, he swallowed and tried again.

“I never wanted this, any of this, Gabriel.” He looked back at Sam. “I want to be a family again. To try again.” Looking back at his younger brother, he pleaded, “please Gabriel.”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” Gabriel asked, his voice wavering and not the growling tone he was hoping for.

“Lucifer doesn’t lie,” the boy said from behind Dean.  

“Quiet Sam,” Dean said, backing his brother away.

“What did you do to him?” Gabriel asked his brother.

“Nothing,” Lucifer assured desperately. “I am looking for a cure with little Castiel.”

“Castiel?” Gabriel said. He had tried so hard to forget the tiny fledgling that the two raised before the fall, tried to forget about the pain of abandoning a little brother as he had been, tried not to feel guilty for what he had done.

“You can be a family with us, Gabriel,” Sam said from behind Dean. “We don’t have to be alone anymore.” Gabriel looked over at the younger _younger_ brother.

“It’s not that easy kid,” Gabriel said, but lowering his weapon.

“But it is,” Sam said, walking past Dean and to Lucifer. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but we can all be a family again if you want to.”

“I want to have my family back, Gabriel.” Lucifer looked at his brother. “I know it can never be what it was, but I don’t want what it was. I want _this.”_

Sam wasn’t sure which brother hugged which first, but he was happy that they were no longer sad. They were taking to each other, but Sam couldn’t understand what he was saying. It did make the halo glow though, and move up to the top of his head like when Lucifer first came over.

“I guess that explains why this vessel isn’t falling apart,” Gabriel said, looking at Sam. At Lucifer’s questioning gaze, he clarified, “well, Sam seems to have been holding onto some of your grace for a long enough time that it is acting as a dam against your grace as a whole.”

“Can we get out of the Dr. Sexy landscape please?” Dean asked as a nurse slapped him in the face. Gabriel snapped his fingers and the hospital faded.

“I guess the little angel trying to break your wards is Castiel?” Gabriel asked his brother. Lucifer waved his hand and Cas flew in next to Dean.

“I think,” Gabriel said before Cas could speak to him. “We should have this conversation somewhere else.”

Then the angel snapped his fingers and the warehouse was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG- sorry it took this long. I love each of you! Have some more adorable Sam and comfort!!

Sam groaned when the five of them landed, clutching his stomach tightly. A warm rush washed over his body and the feeling passed.

“Thanks, Lucifer,” Sam said, smiling up at his angel. Sam looked around where they were. The five of them were taken to a room that he had seen in some home magazines. There was a couch, several chairs and a TV hanging on the wall.

“You would really give it all up?” Gabriel asked his brother. Sam looked back up at Lucifer and nodded at him.

“I’ve taken strides at stopping the apocalypse on my end,” Lucifer said. “War and Famine’s rings have been removed.” Lucifer reached into his pockets, pulling out two bright rings.

“We should dispose of those,” Cas said.

“I was going to drop one of them in a volcano and the other somewhere in space,” Lucifer said to his youngest brother. “But Sam called for me.” Sam reached his hand up and intertwined their fingers gently, smiling at the others in the room.

“Why did you put the two of us there?” Dean asked, taking a half step towards Gabriel with a growl. Sam rolled his eyes at his brother. He pulled on Lucifer’s arm, forcing the angel to follow him to the couch.

“I wanted you and your brother to play your parts, okay?” Gabriel said, glaring at Dean. “I guess I missed the memo where Lucifer called off the big fight.”

“Now we have to worry about how Michael and Raphael will take this,” Cas said, leaning back against the wall and looking at Dean.

“As much as a good boy Mikey is,” Gabriel said, flopping back onto one of the chairs, “I don’t think he’d want to kill his little brother any more than Lucifer wants to kill me.”

“And Raphael?”

“He’ll listen to Michael.”

“The Host?”

“Will probably be pleased that this fighting can end,” Lucifer said. Sam yawned into his hand, snuggling close to Lucifer’s side. The angel lifted his arm so Sam could get closer.

“Alright,” Gabriel said, watching his brother and the Vessel interact, “what happened to your brother?”

“He got caught in a,” Dean winced, knowing that Gabriel would lord the answer over Sam’s head for all eternity, “fairy spell.”

“A _what?”_ Gabriel asked, eyes filled with mirth as he looked towards the youngest Winchester.

“Was there glitter?” Sam asked from under Lucifer’s arm. Dean looked over at Cas in confusion.

“No?” Dean answered, knowing there was no glitter present but unsure why Sam wanted to know.

“Then they weren’t real fairies.”

“That right there,” Gabriel said, wiping a tear from his eye, “is proof that Dad is still giving us blessings.”

“Is there somewhere Sam can rest?” Lucifer asked his brother. Gabriel waved his hand as he stood.

“Take any room you want, big bro. I’ll round up anything that might eat or maim the humans.” Gabriel was about to step out of the room but backed up so he could look at Dean and Cas.

“You too might want to take room sixty-nine,” he ignored Dean’s choked noise to wink at Cas. “It’s where all the fun toys are.”

Lucifer ignored his brother's antics to swoop Sam in his arms and walk him to one of the bedrooms that wasn’t a sex dungeon.

“I’m not tired,” Sam said, kicking one of his legs out. Lucifer chuckled as he put Sam down, opening the door for his charge to one of the bedrooms.

It was a spacious room with one bed and couch with what looked to be a bathroom off to the side.

“Do you have wings?” Sam asked, one hand on his halo. Lucifer closed the door with a sigh.

“I do,” he said softly. “But they are not what they once were.”

“Do you want me to help you clean them?” Sam asked from his side. When Lucifer looked at Sam with surprise, Sam pointed to the bathroom. “We can do it in there!” He grabbed the hem of Lucifer’s shirt and pulled. “Come on.”

In truth, Lucifer was ashamed of the state of his wings. Hellfire and soot were not forgiving to angel feathers, even one as strong as he. Many of the feathers were missing. Those that were still attached to his wings were no doubt crooked, broken or infected.

But Lucifer couldn’t deny Sam anything. He pushed his hesitation and shame aside as he removed his shirt.

“My wingspan won’t fit in the tub, Sam,” Lucifer said, shaking his nerves out as Sam began filling the tub.

“Then you can sit on the floor and I’ll just use a cloth to get the dirt off,” Lucifer smirked at Sam’s innocence. Yet, while regular water wouldn’t be able to remove any hellfire marks from his feathers, he yielded to Sam’s childhood innocence.

Sam sat perched on the edge of the tub, a black washcloth next to him.

“Close your eyes for a moment, Sam,” Lucifer said, waiting until Sam did as he asked. Lucifer pulled his wings forward quickly, a breeze passing through the large bathroom. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. Tattered, infected feathers hung from the bones of his wings. The once white feathers were tarnished with black burns, red hellfire marks, soot, and ash.

He felt his cheeks pink with shame.

“Dean doesn’t like it when I get dirty,” Sam said, making Lucifer flinch. In truth, the archangel would never be ready for Sam to see his disgraceful wings. “But he sometimes helps me get the dirt out from behind my ears.” Sam pat the floor once for Lucifer to sit.

Lucifer drew in his wings as he made his way to Sam. Taking a deep breath, he sat in front of Sam and held his breath.

“You’ll need to pull the broken and bent feathers,” he said quickly. “Straighten the frayed ones and the,” he hesitated, “the infected ones will have to be pulled out. They will heal quickly though.”

“Will it hurt you?” Sam asked, his hand hovering over his left wing.

“It’ll be like,” Lucifer tried to think of an age-appropriate analogy to calm his charge, “removing a splinter.”

“Okay,” he said. Lucifer felt his wing flinch when Sam first touched his feathers. He couldn’t tell if the flinch was from pain or touch starvation.

Sam’s fingers were slow to start. He was cautious with Lucifer, probably feeling the tension from his extra limbs. Lucifer had his eyes closed tight and focused on not making any pained noises that would spook the boy.

Most of the feathers that needed to be released were removed without pain. Lucifer was surprised to find that it actually was a relief to have them finally removed- as if the feathers were waiting to be plucked so they could heal.

Several of the infected ones hurt. Lucifer grit his teeth and clenched his fists to not give his pain away when Sam got to the infected ones. The barbs of the Cage were the cause of the wounds but the infection was due to the prolonged exposure to hellfire and soot. There was no way for Sam to know, since he was not an angel, that certain feathers were infected.

Lucifer’s eyes opened suddenly as he cried out in pain, wings pulling in to make themselves smaller instinctually.

“Are you ok?” Sam asked, his voice scared as he put a hand on Lucifer’s back. Lucifer was too ashamed to look back at Sam as he nodded and relaxed. “I think that was the worst one,” Sam commented as he rested his hand back on Lucifer’s wing. Lucifer nodded once and resumed his statue-like nature.

He sighed in pleasure when Sam put the washcloth, soaked in warm water, right on top of his wound. As Sam slowly started to groom him, with the washcloth and his fingers, Lucifer began to relax.

Sam was enjoying helping his angel relax. There were a lot of feathers on the ground that he had to pull, feeling bad about each one as he did. He was glad that he filled the tub with water. The soot was easily removed with the water and his own fingers. He picked small red rocks out of Lucifer’s feathers as he groomed them.

Smiling when he saw Lucifer relax, Sam hummed as he straightened the feathers. He dipped the dirty cloth back into the water, ringing the soot and dirt out of it, before washing more of the feathers.

He would have to apologize to Gabriel for making their bathroom a complete mess when they were done. There was water, red rocks, feathers and dirt everywhere. Sam was not exempt from the water or the strange oil that was eventually coming up from Lucifer’s wings.

The longer Sam spent picking away the dirt from Lucifer’s wings, the cleaner they became. The once black wings were quickly becoming a shiny silver color. Sam looked forward, looking at their reflection. Lucifer seemed to be in a trance as Sam groomed him. Lucifer’s halo was glowing again, fixed on Sam’s crown.

Sam’s fingers were beginning to tire and get pruned, but he carried on with his work for his angel, humming as he did.

After dedicating another half hour to Lucifer’s wings, when they were shiny as a new quarter, Sam stretched his own arms out.

“I think they look better, Lucifer,” Sam said, waking Lucifer from his trance. “I made a mess,” he laughed, pulling the tub so it could drain. While Sam watched the black water go down the drain, he missed Lucifer’s face of shock.

Lucifer looked back at his charge, who was trying to clean the hellfire from the tub. Sam, with his halo shining like a crown on his head, managed to give Lucifer his feathers back. It was unlikely they would ever be the pure white they once were, but Lucifer was no longer that angel.

“How did you manage this?” Lucifer asked, pulling his wing close to him and marveling at the bright silver feathers Sam blessed him with. Sam stood, grimacing at the mess they both made. Lucifer waved his hand, cleaning the bathroom and giving Sam a new outfit.

“I just did what you asked. I groomed them okay?” Sam asked as if his work wasn’t able to be seen.

“Sam,” Lucifer whispered, kneeling in front of his charge. He ran his fingers through Sam’s hair, causing the boy to giggle as his grace tickled Sam’s halo and crown. “You truly are holy. No one other than my Father should have given me back my feathers like this.”

Sam smiled brightly at Lucifer and hugged him.

“Well I think they’re pretty,” Sam said in his ear. When he pulled away from the angel, he yawned.

“You should take a nap,” Lucifer said to his charge. Sam nodded as the two walked out of the bathroom. Lucifer, wanting to look at his wings more (he was a vain angel) snapped a tee shirt on with holes cut out for his wings to breathe.

“Can I,” Sam looked at the bed with a blush on his cheeks, “can I sleep in your wings.” Before Lucifer could answer, Sam whispered, “they look soft.”

Lucifer smiled, indulging his charge as he slipped into the bed with one wing on the sheets. Sam smiled as he carefully crawled up to Lucifer’s chest under the duvet. Lucifer pulled Sam close, tucking him close to his chest. He pulled the covers over Sam’s body before draping his other wing over his charge. Sam smiled as he pet Lucifer’s feathers gently, eyes drooping with sleep.

“I love you,” Sam said, his hand dropping to his small chest as sleep took him. Lucifer closed his wings tighter around Sam.

“I love you too, Samuel,” Lucifer whispered to his sleeping charge.

When sleep’s claim pulled Sam deeper, it was with a halo shining brightly over his own head, resting on Lucifer’s chest and his angel’s wings wrapped around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the fluff to cure ashamed!Lucifer. Sam is a cutie


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was going to be the end of the story but I think a bonus chapter with Michael and Lucifer making amends would do some good. Maybe god- I'm not sure. 
> 
> I might also add a bonus chapter featuring Cas and Dean getting it on ;)

Sam had never felt this content before.

He slept deeply, peacefully and it felt like his body had been rejuvenated.

Sam didn’t want to wake up. Stuck in the limbo of sleep and wake, he could feel the pull of both. The pull wasn’t urgent, but part of him felt the need to wake. He did not know the reason, but something called for him to wake.

Warm, cocooned in such warmth that felt like the sun hitting his face when he and Dean would share a quiet, rare moment watching nature pass when they were on the road. Sam hummed, nuzzling his face deeper into the blankets.

He felt a hand card through his hair gently, a buzz prickling at the crown of his head only to disappear when the hand did. Sam hummed again when the hand returned, shifting his body to nest further into the chest he was resting against.

“Come on, Sam,” a soft voice said. Sam shook his head once, causing the voice to chuckle. Drifting out of the limbo and closer to wakefulness, Sam opened his eyes, blinking the remainder of sleep away.

“Lucifer?” Sam asked, rubbing his eyes with one hand.

“It’s good to see you back,” Lucifer said. Sam looked at where he was laying.

“Your wings,” he whispered, running his finger over one silver feather.

“Thanks to you and your childhood innocence,” Lucifer began, his hand resting over Sam’s before fingers interlocked, “were able to heal the damage done to them by all the years I spent in hell.”

“Childhood?” Sam asked, facing the angel, content to stay wrapped next to him on the bed. Lucifer chuckled, leaning down to kiss Sam’s brow. Sam blushed at the intimate act, gasping into the kiss that Lucifer bestowed on his lips. Sam melted into the gentle kiss.

“It seems your memories are a bit out of place.” Lucifer kissed Sam briefly on the lips, smirking when Sam tried to chase them as he pulled back. “You’re brother is worried about you. They will come back soon.”

Lucifer sat up, pulling his wings out from around and under Sam only to vanish them when he swung his legs over the bed. Sam shivered at the warmth being lost, but quickly got out of the bed and followed his angel out of the room.

“Where are we?” Sam asked, looking around at all the doors.

“At my brother Gabriel’s.” Sam stopped, looking flabbergasted. Lucifer rolled his eyes. “It’ll be easier on all of us,” he muttered to himself. Sam only flinched slightly when Lucifer raised his finger to Sam’s temple.

Bombarded with his own and Lucifer’s memories of himself the last week, Sam shook his head, trying to organize the thoughts.

“I was a child for a week?”

“Quite an adorable one at that,” Lucifer said with a nod. “You, Gabriel and I managed to get our brothers together.”

“About time,” Sam muttered, flushing at the thought of the trickster seeing him so young.

“You managed to give me my brother back as well,” Lucifer said, stepping to Sam and taking his hands. “And my wings while you were a child. And I got to experience your youth that I missed.”

“How did the spell break?” Sam asked, leaning forward so their heads were touching.

“I believe you wrapped in my grace for the evening managed to purge the fairies influence.”

“Dean and Gabriel will never let me live that down.”

“I’m sure there will be mild teasing.” Lucifer and Sam laughed quietly. Sam looked into Lucifer’s cold blue eyes, reached a careful hand up to rub at the back of Lucifer’s neck, then leaned in and kissed him gently.

To both of them, the kiss felt like coming home.

“You need to eat, human,” Lucifer teased, their lips touching as he spoke. Before Sam could say anything, his stomach grumbled in agreement. Lucifer seemed smug at being right, silently taking Sam’s hand and leading him around the Trickster’s house.

Sam felt a bit conflicted on his feelings regarding the Trickster-Archangel. On the one hand, he killed Dean numerous times, yet- each time he brought Dean back. Sam also remembered that Gabriel, while the one to trap him and Dean in the TV Land, was the one that comforted Sam when he was crying and scared. Sam also remembered how afraid both Lucifer and Gabriel were of each other, then their embrace.

Sam couldn’t imagine living so long without his brother.

When Lucifer turned into the kitchen, Gabriel was at the stove, wearing a pink apron.

“Luci!” the blond said with a smile as he turned. “And Samshine! Back to being a giant.” Gabriel waved his spatula around at the table. “You must be hungry then. Your brother should be too after the night he’s no doubt had.”

“I don’t want to know about that,” Sam said, taking a seat at the table that was large enough for the five of them.

“Pancakes for breakfast. Anything you want on them I can get you,” Gabriel said. He put a stack of fresh pancakes on the table in front of the two and snapped his fingers. There were three bottles of syrup, honey and chocolate sauce that appeared on the table.

“Thank you, little brother,” Lucifer said, stabbing some pancakes and putting them on his plate. Sam served himself some next, content to watch Gabriel bounce around the kitchen as Lucifer experienced pancakes for the first time.

“Save some for me,” Dean said. Sam watched as his brother basically flopped onto the chair that was closest to him before reaching for his own food without further comment. Cas walked in shortly after him, looking somewhat smug and practically naked with the lack of his holy tax accountant look.

“Don’t you have any bacon?” Dean asked Gabriel. Gabriel smirked over his shoulder, putting an oven glove on his hand.

“I knew you’d like meat,” Gabriel winked as Dean blushed. Sam laughed at his brother’s reaction, shaking his head as he at one of the pancakes. “Don’t worry, I made sausage, always good to switch things up, ya know?”

“Gabriel,” Lucifer scolded gently. “No sex talk at the breakfast table.”

“Is sex allowed on the breakfast table?” Cas asked, causing Dean to choke on his pancake. Sam smirked at his brother but choked on his own pancake when Lucifer responded.

“As long as you learn to share.”

“I think that can be arranged.”

“Boys,” Gabriel said, sliding a plate of sausage links on the table. “We just got Sam back to his gigantor size, don’t break him so soon.”

“Gabriel?” Lucifer asked, putting down his fork and knife. “How did you manage to keep yourself contained in that vessel.”

“Not mine,” Gabriel said as he chewed the rest of the wad of pancake in his mouth. “I would have been found if I took my vessel, so I took some donated blood of his and made my own.” Gabriel looked over at Dean. “We could do that same for Mika using yours.”

“As long as he doesn’t tear up the world,” Dean said with a shrug.

“How can we talk to Michael without being killed by Zachariah?” Cas asked. Gabriel laughed as he twirled his fork, then pointed it to himself.

“You leave that to your big bro. I’ll handle that.” He looked over at Dean. “After breakfast I’m going to need some of your blood, a day to myself and then I’ll fix this problem.”

“And what do we do in the meantime?” Sam asked.

“Stay here, watch movies, eat food, have sex, repeat?” Gabriel suggested. The table was silent until Dean spoke.

“Sounds like an awesome plan to me.”

*

 

While Gabriel was building Michael’s new vessel, Sam and Lucifer did most of what the trickster suggested.

The only problem was that Sam’s body was not healed to the extent of having sex so soon after being a six year old. Lucifer assured Sam that he had waited in the Cage for Sam, not as a partner to solely have sex with- that he could wait a bit longer, as long as Sam needed.

Cas, it seemed, took Gabriel’s advice to the fullest extent judging by the marks on Dean’s body and the limp he was sporting. Sam did admit one thing to Lucifer in private, well-fucked always seemed to look good on Dean.

In the two days that Sam had been an adult, armed with the memories of when he was a child, Dean drank less when he was with Cas. He was more at peace in their relationship. Sam was happy his brother was happy.

Sam and Lucifer were cuddled on the couch watching doctor drama’s on Gabriel’s TV when Lucifer hissed, a hand raised to his forehead.

“Gabriel is in Heaven,” Lucifer said. Sam sat up, unsure of what to do to help his angel.

“He thought that busting down the door was the best way to get to Michael?”

“He learned that from me.” Lucifer groaned as he rubbed his temples. “I’m regretting that now.”

It was a tense hour. Lucifer seemed to be in pain caused by angel radio so Sam stayed quiet and let Lucifer rest his head in Sam’s lap. At the end of the second hour, Lucifer’s eyes opened, tears running down them.

“He agreed.” Lucifer stood from the couch, looking uncertain. “He agreed.”

“Of course he did,” Sam said, standing to approach his angel. “He’s your big brother, they always come around in the end.”

Lucifer looked up at Sam and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you, Sam.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Sam chuckled.

“You did,” Lucifer assured, tears still running down his eyes. “All those years ago, when you were a child getting ready to sleep and you prayed to me. You started this.”

“I had you too, Lucifer,” Sam said, leaning away so their eyes could meet. “And now,” Sam leaned forward, “now I have you.”

As they kissed, Sam’s halo shined bright on his head and Lucifer’s wings wrapped around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure when the next update will be. University is closing and finals/projects are killing me. I'll try to update as soon as I am able to! Love!!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are my cookies. Please give them to me. I'll post another chapter soon!!!


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